


Campfire

by re_ality



Series: Time Capsule [1]
Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE, CLC (Band), LOONA (Korea Band), NCT (Band), PRISTIN (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Beach Holidays, Camping, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Not really angst but drama?, Slice of Life, Summer, Teen and Up for some swearing, a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-07-18 15:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16121168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/re_ality/pseuds/re_ality
Summary: It's the holidays, and eight friends Sungyeon, Donghyuck, Eunbin, Chan, Renjun, Seungmin, Soyeon, and Jaemin decide it's a good idea to go camping (it's not).Between secret crushes, playing matchmaker, fake relationships, and trips to the hospital, will friendship survive or will it break them apart?





	1. beach

It's been a long journey, with dangers lurking around every corner. It's the end of the year and exams are over, assessments are over, and early mornings are over. Although it's a miracle that they emerged alive, these students simply can't find anything to do. Too much to do during the year, nothing to do in the holidays.

"I know what we should do! We should rent a beach house!"

The teenagers, sprawled out on the couches of Donghyuck's living room murmured in agreement. Or maybe they disagreed, but Renjun was way too excited to notice. Suddenly, his face fell and he slumped back against the pillow.

"It says we need an adult to book it. We're all still teenagers here." he sighed and kept scrolling to look for places to go. "Wait, T-rex! You're an adult now, right?" Renjun screeched, face lighting back up. (Jaemin thinks it's the cutest thing ever) 

"Yes, I am an adult, but so are half of you. And don't call me t-rex. My name is Chan."

"Alright, Dino!" Renjun's only response was a pillow to his head. Wrestling the pillow off, Renjun pointed at Chan.

"Right, you're going to be booking the house. Everyone owes twenty-five dollars, if I've done the maths properly." Everyone pointed out his access to a calculator, but he waved them off, because "I got an A in maths". 

Donghyuck's mother knocked on the door softly, reminding everyone of the time.

"Shit, it's already 6pm! My parents are going to kill me!"

"Okay, adult. Just remember to book the house." Chan already had his sneakers on, and dragged his bike to the end of the road before pedalling away as fast as possible. One by one, the group trudged out of the room and mumbled goodbyes to Donghyuck's parents. Eunbin was the only one left, still eating prawn chips from the packet.

"What are you still doing in my room?" Donghyuck asked to the girl who had her full focus on the drama in front of her.

"I'm sleeping over, cuz." Eunbin replied nonchalantly, still stuffing her face with prawn crackers.

Suddenly, the memorable tune of Twice's TT filled the room. Eunbin raised an eyebrow at Donghyuck's choice in ringtone, but went back to her movie and snacks as Donghyuck picked up the phone. He groaned as he hears the message. The voice on the phone finished speaking and Donghyuck discarded it on the couch.

"Mina sprained her ankle and now she can't go on holidays with us. Chan's already booked for nine people, and we can't cancel."

"So what's the big deal? We can invite someone else." Eunbin asked, puzzled at Donghyuck's attitude. "Maybe Elkie, you know, my roomate?"

"Chan wants Jiwoo to come along," Donghyuck explained. "He says it'll be a 'good bonding experience'."

Eunbin spat out crumbs of the crackers, and Donghyuck made a face as he threw her the tissue box. She pulled out a couple of tissues and cleaned the screen of her phone, then threw the crumpled tissue into the bin like a basketball player and Donghyuck cheered as it just missed.

"What? Why that snake?"

"I know, right? But he's the one organising it, so we can't really argue."

Donghyuck went back to his social media and Eunbin resumed the movie. The silence of the room was interrupted by an explosion of messages from both their phones. Chan must have let the group chat know that Jiwoo was replacing Mina on the trip. Nobody particularly liked Kim Jiwoo (or 'my sweetie chuu' as known by Chan), barely tolerating her. It seemed that Chan was absolutely oblivious to Jiwoo using him.

"Well, we leave in two days, so better get packing!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how are you liking this so far? it’s my first work so the writing be a little awkward... let me know what you think + please leave kudos!  
> love you


	2. highway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the holidays, and eight friends Sungyeon, Donghyuck, Eunbin, Chan, Renjun, Seungmin, Soyeon, and Jaemin decide it's a good idea to go camping (it's not).  
> Between secret crushes, playing matchmaker, fake relationships, and trips to the hospital, will friendship survive or will it break them apart?

"I spy with my little eye... something beginning with t!" 

"Could it possibly be... a tree? For the nth time?"

The highway stretched on for ages, with nothing to look at but grass and trees and the occasional bird. Joohyun, Sungyeon's sister, and Taeyong, Donghyuck's brother sat in the front seats. Although most of the group were perfectly capable of driving, they didn't trust them after what happened last time, involving a snake (not Jiwoo), a balloon, and popcorn. They still hadn't gotten the popcorn remnants out of the corners of the seats.

("It serves as a reminder of what not to do next time." Taeyong reprimanded them.)

The van jolted to a stop, and before Joohyun could fully turn the engine off, everyone piled off and stumbled on to the grass. The group went ahead to the reception building as Seungmin and Eunbin hauled the bags out of the trunk and drop them on the ground before they ran off to meet their friends. 

In the reception building, Chan scrolled desperately through his four hundred unread emails while Taeyong was trying to figure out exactly what was going on. 

"What do you mean, we haven't booked? We definitely did. For nine people."

"I'm sorry, sir. Did you receive a confirmation email?"

"A what now?" Chan definitely hadn't received any kind of email. He hadn't even checked it since like 2012, and was now facing the consequences of those four million emails just sitting in the phone app, collecting dust. 

"I'm afraid that if you can't show us the email, then we haven't received the booking."

"Can we make a booking now?" the response was negative, they had to make a booking at least two days in advance. But they couldn't turn back, considering the four painful hours they had endured to get to the beach. 

"You can, however, pay for the campsite and tents without an online booking."

"And how much is that?" Joohyun interjected before anyone made any irrational decisions.

Joohyun and Taeyong decided that they didn't want to have to come here two more times, so they handed over the money on behalf of the eight friends. (r.i.p wallets)

"Alright, please head over to the campsite to your left. Enjoy your stay!"

They yelled in glee and sprinted over to the tents. Donghyuck, Sungyeon, Soyeon, and Jaemin stayed behind to transport the bags to the tents.

As the four get ready to return to the campsite, they hear a voice calling out. 

"Hey, Joohyun! What are you doing here?" they turned around to see a girl with short, blonde hair who ran up and enthusiastically hugged Sungyeon's sister. Donghyuck immediately noticed her cute features, her infectious smile, and her positive energy.

"Hi, Yerim! Shouldn't you be studying instead of playing around?" Joohyun playfully scolded Yerim. "Anyways, this is my sister, Sungyeon, and some of her friends. Kids, this is Yerim. She's my assistant at tutoring."

They greeted Yerim with a messy hello. Sungyeon, Soyeon, and Jaemin dragged the bags to the campsite, complaining about how nobody wanted to help them. Joohyun heard Taeyong calling her and hastily said goodbye before getting in the car. 

"So, Yerim. What are you doing here?" Donghyuck asked. 

"Me? I'm doing this lifesaving thing. It's honestly so fun. Are you going to come down to the beach today?" 

"Yes, of course! Will you be on duty?" he asked with a little too much enthusiasm.

Yerim nodded, and told him that she had to get back before the cranky manager noticed. Hopefully she didn't see Donghyuck blushing the whole time. Jaemin certainly did. 

"Oooh! Does Donghyuck have a cruuuush?"

"Shut up, stupid. The sun just doesn't like me." Donghyuck countered with the most childish insult ever. "Anyways, let's go to the beach after we sort out tents."

"To see Yerim?" Soyeon teased.

Donghyuck doesn't bother responding. It's half true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the group finally goes on the trip! the chapter is a little short, but i'll make sure chapters will be longer from now on. please leave kudos!  
> thanks :)


	3. sunscreen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the holidays, and eight friends Sungyeon, Donghyuck, Eunbin, Chan, Renjun, Seungmin, Soyeon, and Jaemin decide it's a good idea to go camping (it's not).  
> Between secret crushes, playing matchmaker, fake relationships, and trips to the hospital, will friendship survive or will it break them apart?

"Alright, three groups of three for tents, kids." Chan ordered. "I'm going with my sweetie chuu Jiwoo!" 

"I'm so sorry for whoever has to share a tent with them." Sungyeon whispered, and Chan threw her a poisonous glare. To Sungyeon, he looked completely harmless. Inside Chan's head, he was thinking of as many ways possible to injure Sungyeon without causing serious damage (ambulance fees are expensive).

Sungyeon, Soyeon, and Seungmin, the three S's, raced to the first tent and dove in. Eunbin pushed Renjun and Jaemin to the other tent, partly because she wanted Renjun and Jaemin to spend as much time possible together and partly because she wanted to get revenge on Donghyuck for stealing her gummy bears in the car. 

"Oh look, sss. Because y'all snakes." Donghyuck whined. "Now I'm stuck with Chan and the other snake." 

"Do you want to sleep outside?" Chan threatend. 

"Let's go to the beach now, we still have plenty of time before dinner." Donghyuck hastily suggested before Chan could actually follow through with that threat. 

They raced down to the beach, kicked their sandals off and splashed into the water. Sungyeon remembered the (genius) plan to make Soyeon and Seungmin talk as much as possible (both absolutely oblivious to each others feelings) and asked Soyeon and Seungmin to get the sunscreen and beach ball from the tents. 

"Didn't you already put on sunscreen?" Seungmin asked Sungyeon, confused. 

"Ahahah... sun safety! Yeah, sun safety, now go!" Sungyeon explained as she physically pushed Seungmin and Soyeon in the direction of the campsite. 

Soyeon silently pleaded to Sungyeon not to leave her alone with Seungmin, but Sungyeon just waved her off and gave her a thumbs up. As the two walked back to the campsite, kicking stones and sticks out of the path, Seungmin tried to break the awkward silence. 

"So, uh, Soyeon? Do you have any siblings? You never really mention your family much." he tried, cringing at how his voice got higher at the end.

"I have a brother, but we're not that close since he's a lot older than me." Soyeon responded, without elaborating. She didn’t ask Seungmin the same question back, but he answered anyway.

"Well, I'm an only child. I don't think I've seen your brother much. Is he very busy?" Seungmin attempted to redirect the questions to Soyeon, finding it easier to ask questions rather than answer them.

"He works overseas, in America. We're here now, I'll get the sunscreen and my sunglasses, can you get the beach ball?" 

They collected the items they were asked to and silently walked back. Soyeon delivered the sunscreen to Sungyeon, who didn’t even use it. She tossed it to the side, and Soyeon fakes offence at this and sassily put on her sunglasses while Sungyeon just rolled her eyes.

"So, what did you do? What did you talk about?"

"We didn't really talk, he asked me about my brother though."

"Boooring." Sungyeon interrupted. "Don't you have anything more interesting to talk about?"

"Whatever, bitch." Soyeon replied and sat on a towel, opening her book.

"Why aren't you joining us in the water?" Sungyeon called out. 

Soyeon rolled her eyes. "I don't play with snakes like you."

 

Seungmin threw the beach ball to Chan, who missed it, most likely at the fault of Jiwoo who was clinging on to him like some sort of koala. Jiwoo shrieked and dug her fingernails into Chan's shoulders.

"I think something just touched my foot!" she complained. (yes, it's a sea monster who wants to drag you down into the depths of the ocean.)

"Relax, sweetie. It's probably just some seaweed or something."

"I'm going back to shore." Jiwoo huffed and swam away. "If you care about me, you would follow." Chan turned to go after her but Renjun hit his head with the beach ball.

"What was that for, mate?" he sighed, exasperated. 

"Don't bother. She can go sit on the beach by herself, she'll be fine. Just leave her." Renjun persuaded Chan. He looked at Jiwoo walking out of the water and angrily flapping the sand off her towel, then agreed with Renjun to stay and threw the beach ball at Eunbin. She squawked indignantly as sea water got into her mouth. 

 

On the shore, Donghyuck dried his hair off with a towel and tried to shake the sand out of it after Jaemin dunked his whole head underwater. He leant on the lifeguard's chair and tapped his ear to get the water out. 

"Donghyuck!" a voice called out to him. It's so familiar, and he's entranced. The voice is smooth like silk, and crisp like the pages of a book. Like a fantasy creature, a mermaid... the voice called out to him again. It must be the water in his ears. He finally succeeded in getting the water out.

"Donghyuck!" okay, so this voice was definitely real. He looked around. Everyone was in the water and playing some game apart from Soyeon, who was reading a book and Jiwoo, who was playing on her phone. So who could it be?

"Up here, dumbass!" Donghyuck looked up, the sun momentarily blinded his eyes. The mystery person was a girl, around his age, with short, blonde hair. He would have thought she were an angel if he hadn't recognised that voice. Although the owner of that voice was like an angel... "It's me, Yerim! Remember?" How could anyone forget?

"Hey Yerim!" Donghyuck called out enthusiastically, waiting as she climbed down the ladder and jumped off the third rung onto the sandy ground next to Donghyuck. "Still working?" he asked her. What a stupid question. Of course she was working. 

"That's why i'm in the chair, why else?" Yerim grinned. 

"Right... so when does your shift end? Would you like to hang out with us later?" he offered, surprisingly not stumbling over his words. 

"I would love to! Please introduce me to your friends as well." 

Donghyuck felt his ears redden. "Uh, great! I'll... see you later?" Yerim flashed that beautiful smile at him again, and climbed back up the ladder. She waved at Donghyuck who immediately ran down to the waves again, dove in and started screaming underwater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yerim and donghyuck meet! i hope this isn't dragging on too much, please let me know if the pace is too slow/too fast.  
> please leave kudos and comments!


	4. phone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the holidays, and eight friends Sungyeon, Donghyuck, Eunbin, Chan, Renjun, Seungmin, Soyeon, and Jaemin decide it's a good idea to go camping (it's not).  
> Between secret crushes, playing matchmaker, fake relationships, and trips to the hospital, will friendship survive or will it break them apart?

Renjun stared into the mirror aimlessly, eyes wandering over the flecks of dirt on the surface. His reflection stared back at him emptily. A figure suddenly emerged and moved in to the sight of the corner of his eye, and Renjun jumped back in fright. He shrieked as the person grabbed his arm harshly, until Renjun opened his eyes properly and spotted a mop of pink hair. It was only Jaemin.

“Sorry I gave you a fright,” Jaemin apologised, “didn’t think you found my face that ugly.” he joked.

Renjun stuttered, his face flushing like a fire. He quickly turned back to the mirror and started to aggressively brush his teeth until his gums were probably bleeding. Jaemin only smirked and occupied the sink next to Renjun. As Jaemin washed his face, he let out a panicked cry.

“Renjun? Soap in eye! Help!” Jaemin squeaked.

Renjun giggled to himself as Jaemin looked around blindly, squinting his eyes until his face was creased in wrinkles. Jaemin let out another squeak in urgency, more like a squawk this time, and Renjun snapped back into reality. He ungracefully pushed his towel into Jaemin’s hands.

“Really, Renjun? Iron Man towel?” Jaemin asked as he harshly rubbed his face with it.

Renjun could only mumble something back. How was it that Jaemin looked so good even after he just woke up and he just had soap in his eyes. It wasn’t fair.

“If I didn’t like you so much, I would want to slap your beautiful and amazing face.” Renjun thought to himself.

“Thanks, I guess?” Jaemin responded, confused at the sudden compliment. Or was that an insult?

Anyways, Renjun had just admitted that he liked Jaemin and he thought his face was beautiful and amazing. Renjun froze. That was meant to be a thought to himself, not an announcement to the whole world. He turned around to run, but his flailing arms hit a few sinks and shelves and he fell, right in front of his crush. Jaemin rushed to help Renjun up, but Renjun only mumbled a thank you and got out of there really quickly. Renjun skidded to a halt at his tent and crouched on the ground, trying to get his breath back. The rest of the day- or maybe just the rest of his life would be seriously awkward. He tapped furiously on his phone, looking for the cheapest flights to New Zealand. He would be safe there. Jaemin ran over to Renjun, waving the Iron Man towel around like a cape.

“Renjun! You forgot your towel!” he exclaimed, still running.

In a hurry to escape, Renjun fell back on to the tent, the and the whole thing collapsed on top of him, poles and all. Renjun simply replied to keep it, and buried into the fabric of the tent.

All the rest of the group watched the drama happening from the distance, and when Yerim asked them what was going on, they simply shushed her and passed the popcorn. Yerim had no problem with some popcorn and live drama.

After the whole ‘renmin’ (they had decided to call it that) fiasco, Eunbin and Sungyeon strolled across the beach together, discussing something, or someone, of utmost importance. Siyeon, Sungyeon’s crush.

“It’s just, she’s so cute and elegant at the same time! How is that even allowed? I just want to smother her in my love and adoration. And she’s so clueless but that makes me like her even more. But it’s honestly so frustrating. How can Siyeon even misinterpret me after I literally confessed to her? She was like, ‘awww, I love you too, bestie!’ Anyways, Siyeon is a cutie pie and has stolen my heart. Thank you for listening.” Sungyeon rambled.

“Wow,” Eunbin pointed out the obvious, “you’re so whipped for her.”

“I know.” Sungyeon sighed dreamily and skipped towards her tent.

As the two approached their tent and was passing Chan’s tent, they heard a voice talking very animatedly inside. Everyone was still at the beach except for Jiwoo, who had complained yet again. If she was going to whine about everything, she might as well have just stayed at home.

(“My hair’s going to get ruined,” Jiwoo stated with a huff, “and I’m going to get so sunburnt! I’m leaving.” With a swish of her hair, Jiwoo stormed off and muttered something under her breath. This time, Chan was having a great day and didn’t want it to get ruined because of one person, so he chose to ignore her, instead hitting Seungmin over the head with a pool noodle.)

Eunbin and Sungyeon, too curious, leaned in to listen to Jiwoo’s phone conversation.

“I didn’t even want to go on this stupid trip anyways.” they heard Jiwoo saying. “I know right? I was only dating Chan- no, not Bang Chan, Lee Chan- yeah, the dancer guy, because he’s good looking and he has some older friends that I might want to get closer too. Are you stupid? I want to date his older friend instead, Heejin. He’s completely oblivious. And as a bonus, he’s one of the top in the class so he tutors me for free, but I copy his notes anyways. It’s tedious because his friends are such a weird bunch.”

Their eyes widened at Jiwoo’s muffled voice, and Sungyeon let out a sigh of anger. At this, Jiwoo stopped talking and sharply told Heejin to hold on before peeking outside the tent. Luckily, Sungyeon and Eunbin were able to hide themselves from Jiwoo’s sight in time before rushing off to Eunbin’s shared tent with Renjun and Jaemin. As soon as they were in the safety of the tent, they burst into a rant about how they knew Jiwoo was only using Chan and never loved him.

“Right, as soon as everyone leaves the beach, I’m going to tell Chan about this. He has to know!” Eunbin stated.

“Eunbin, are you stupid?” Sungyeon yells before Eunbin signals to quiet down. In a whisper-yell, she continues. “Chan’s never going to believe you. And when Jiwoo finds out eventually, she’s going to find a way to destroy your reputation.”

But Eunbin is already half way out of the tent.

“Where are you going? Let’s just wait!” Sungyeon attempts to persuade Eunbin from making irrational decisions.

“I’m not going to tell Chan.” Eunbin says, and Sungyeon visibly relaxes at this. “But I’m telling Donghyuck, he’s my cousin after all. And he has… a lot of experiences with relationships.”

Eunbin ran off, and Sungyeon buried her face into her hands.

* * *

“I’m sorry, you what?” Donghyuck asked his cousin to repeat that for the fifth time.

“We overheard Jiwoo talking on the phone to someone, saying that she was only using Chan.” Eunbin explained in an exasperated tone. “But Sungyeon doesn’t want me to tell Chan because our reputation might get ruined. Chan will never believe us anyway. Maybe she’s right, we should leave it.”

Donghyuck was torn between the harms that might come to him and to Chan. Chan and Donghyuck were childhood friends, they went to school together and hung out together. But when Chan met Jiwoo this year, he had become distant and had no time for Donghyuck. Chan had told Donghyuck that Jiwoo said not to talk to him, and this made Donghyuck absolutely furious. Chan had chosen his girlfriend of six months over his best friend of nineteen years. Although Donghyuck had a remaining hint of anger towards Chan, he didn’t want to keep it a secret and risk breaking apart their friendship even more.

“Let’s tell Chan. We’ll deal with Jiwoo later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more renmin this chapter, also sorry for leaving it on a cliffhanger.   
> please leave kudos and comments, if there's anything you particularly like or would suggest for me to improve on.


	5. ramen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the holidays, and eight friends Sungyeon, Donghyuck, Eunbin, Chan, Renjun, Seungmin, Soyeon, and Jaemin decide it's a good idea to go camping (it's not).  
> Between secret crushes, playing matchmaker, fake relationships, and trips to the hospital, will friendship survive or will it break them apart?

Sungyeon was 100%, definitely, absolutely, completely, irrefutably, certainly right. Chan not only did not believe them, but he was enraged and annoyed.

“I can’t believe this!” Chan yelled. “You never even gave Jiwoo a chance. You didn’t try to like her, you didn’t even try to tolerate her! You don’t want me to be happy, do you? Or are you jealous?”

Eunbin and Donghyuck, despite predicting this reaction were quite shocked. Of course they wanted Chan to be happy, they were the best of friends. That’s why they decided to tell Chan. But Chan just wouldn’t listen. At the yelling of Chan, Jiwoo emerged from the tent and rushed over to Chan, fussing over him and asking what was wrong.

“They want to break our relationship up!” Chan pointed a finger at Eunbin and Donghyuck. 

Jiwoo painted a shocked expression on her face, but they could see a flash of worry in her expression. Although Jiwoo couldn’t care less if Chan found out, it was still in her best interest to keep it from him. They could almost hear the gears whirring in Chan’s head before he looked up at them.

“The thing I’m suspicious about,” Chan stated, “is that you and Sungyeon were the only ones in the area at the time.”

“Yes, everyone else was at the beach. Apart from Jiwoo of course.” Eunbin replied.

“What were you talking about?” Chan demanded.

“Sorry, what?”

“What were you talking about?” he said again, becoming irritated. "You said you were talking about something else with Sungyeon before you apparently heard Jiwoo, right?" Eunbin nodded silently. "I want to know so I can match the story with Sungyeon's if it comes down to that."

Eunbin was in a bit of a tricky situation here. She couldn’t tell Chan about what they were talking about, because Sungyeon specifically told Eunbin not to tell anyone about her crush on Siyeon. But if she didn’t tell Chan, he would lose trust in his friends and Eunbin in particular.

“I can’t tell you.” Eunbin mumbled.

“Ha! See?” Chan accused. “Liar! You’re all liars! This is all made up, isn’t it? Well, it’s not funny. Come on, Jiwoo. Let’s get out of here.”

Chan stomped off, Jiwoo following, but not before she could whisper into Eunbin’s ear. 

“I’ll ruin your life and your reputation.” Jiwoo hissed before she ran off after Chan. 

* * *

“Chan! Chan! Wait!” Eunbin shouted, waiting to catch her breath.

“What do you want?” Chan growled at her, not wanting to talk to any of his friends.

“I can tell you what we were talking about.” she managed to wheeze out before hunching over and coughing out her lungs.

Eunbin’s words captured Chan’s attention, but he couldn’t let it show. Chan awkwardly patted her back, but drew back his hand at Eunbin's bitter glare. 

“Go on then,” Chan feigned indifference, “tell me.”

“You have to promise not to tell everyone.” Chan nodded. “We were… talking about Sungyeon’s crush!” Eunbin said the last part hurriedly, the words becoming jumbled and messy.

When Chan raised an eyebrow, asking her to repeat that, she did but much slower.

“We were discussing Sungyeon’s crush on Siyeon, a girl in her class.” Eunbin explained. “So please, believe us.”

Chan only furrowed his brow and muttered something before walking in the general direction of his tent. Eunbin was filled with dread. She had just told Chan about something that she promised her best friend to keep a secret. She had betrayed Sungyeon’s trust. Eunbin was not going to be able to focus on anything else for the rest of the day.

* * *

Jaemin tossed some instant ramen into a pot, and dumped it on the campfire. He watched the flames engulf the pieces of firewood and the ashes fly away. He felt someone take the seat next to him and wrap a blanket around his shoulders. Jaemin turned to see Renjun, and thanked him for the blanket. They watched the ramen and water boil for an extremely long time, and Jaemin occasionally turned to see Renjun's face, half illuminated by the fire and half hidden in the darkness. 

"Jaemin?" Renjun winced at how his voice cracked, and tried to laugh it off. Jaemin hummed in response. "You know how I said that I liked you in the bathroom yesterday?"

"We've been best friends since high school, that must have been when we were eleven years old." Jaemin responded as if it was the most obvious thing. 

"But I... like you. Not as a friend, but romantically. I understand if you don't return the same feelings, but I like like you." 

Jaemin, shocked at this sudden confession, jumped up from his seat and took one, two steps backwards. Renjun's face contorted into a scream as Jaemin took a third step backwards and hit the boiling pot of ramen with his foot, and the pot topped over, just missing Jaemin spilling scalding water all over the ground. Jaemin shrieked in pain from the burn he had gotten when his foot hit the metal and the flame, and hopped around on his left foot. Renjun awoke from his daze, and yelled for someone to help and tried to support Jaemin by letting him lean on his shoulder. Everyone rushed out of their tents, and Renjun tried to explain the situation as best as possible. Considering the burn wasn't too bad and Jaemin wasn't dying or anything, they decided to call Yerim and ask to borrow her car, and Yerim (obviously not being able to fit all the people in the car) called one of her friends and they rushed to the nearest hospital (under the speed limit). 

Jaemin wasn't hurt all that badly, but he probably couldn't walk well for a while. They waited for hours in the hospital.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't confronted Jaemin like that, he wouldn't have been injured." Renjun was close to tears. He was exhausted, and nervous and this just piled up his emotions even more.

"Don't blame yourself," Soyeon told him, rubbing a hand against his back, "It's nobody's fault. It was a mistake, and Jaemin's alright."

Outside of the safety of the hospital, the thunder rumbled in the distance and flashes of lightning brightened up the night sky. The wind howled and rain battered the earth like a drill, digging up dirt and plants. They helped Jaemin get into the car, then shoved themselves in. The windscreen wipers were not fast enough to get a clear their view of the road, so the group waited until the storm calmed down. Yerim started her car, with Renjun, Jaemin, Donghyuck, Soyeon and Eunbin, and Seulgi's (Yerim's lifesaver friend) car also spluttered to life with Chan, Jiwoo, Sungyeon, and Seungmin squeezed into the limited seats. (they had all insisted on going to the hospital)

The ride was mostly silent, until Chan leaned over a sleeping Jiwoo and whispered something in Sungyeon's ear. She tried to keep herself composed and calm, telling Chan it wasn't a big deal and she didn't mind, but inside, she was furious. Eunbin had broken their promise and betrayed her trust, not even asking Sungyeon if she could tell Chan. But this wasn't the right time, everyone was stressed and tired so Sungyeon tried to go to sleep, closing her heavy eyelids and listening to the wind, the rain, and the engine of the car.

Everyone piled out of the car, only to see the campsite absolutely ruined. It must have been because of the bad storm, they had been so careless about getting everyone to the hospital. With the injury and the damaged tents, Renjun felt devastated and his thoughts were messier and harder to understand than his handwriting.  

"I'm so sorry everyone. It's my fault." Renjun spoke up. "If I hadn't-"

Donghyuck cut him off. "You know what? Maybe it is your fault! If you hadn't confessed to Jaemin so suddenly, maybe this wouldn't have happened!" 

Faint gasps were heard from the group at this new information. Renjun had no idea that Donghyuck knew, Jaemin must have told him at the hospital.  

"Donghyuck!" Jaemin exclaimed. "It's not his fault. You should apologise."

"Oh yeah?" Renjun said, ignoring Jaemin. "Well, if you hadn't been hanging out with Yerim all the time, maybe you could have helped me!"

Donghyuck turned around and mouthed 'screw you, shithead' then stomped away and tried to put his tent back together.  

The group dissipated, trying to salvage their damaged clothes and equipment. 

"Guys?" Seungmin spoke up timidly. "It's been half an hour. Where's everyone else?"

Rescue mission at 11pm: commence.

Everyone else was in Seulgi's car, that had skidded and stopped on the side of the road. Not only was it night, but they were terrified of wild animals and strangers. A figure with long hair approached their car, like in a horror movie. They screamed in fright, scrambling to move back against the other side, until a familiar voice, belonging to Soyeon told them to get out of the car and get into Yerim's. They did, gladly, but very cautiously. You never know, this is what always happens in those movies. 

As soon as Yerim told everyone to get out of the car at the campsite, Sungyeon slammed the car door and shoved Eunbin, hard. 

"What was that for?" Eunbin asked in an annoyed tone, attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes. It had been an exhausting day, and Sungyeon's sudden outburst wasn't helping.

"You know what that was for! You know what you did!" Sungyeon yelled at her.

Eunbin bit the inside of her cheek to stop a curse from being let out. It had completely escaped Eunbin's mind in the midst of this whole mess. 

"Sungyeon, I was going to tell you, I pro-"

"Of course you were," Sungyeon scoffed, "but you didn't. You told Chan." 

Eunbin tried to go after her but Chan held her back. He turned to face Jiwoo. 

"Look, Jiwoo." Chan cautiously said, in a weak voice. "I think it's kind of believable what Eunbin and Donghyuck said earlier."

"Are you kidding me?" Jiwoo wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You can't possibly believe them!"

"After what they told me, I don't think it's entirely implausible. The stories match, and if I think about it," Chan replied, more confident now. "it doesn't feel like you're actually dating me."

"This is just- You know what? They're right, I was using you. I don't care about you or your feelings. We're over."

"We were never a thing, Jiwoo." Chan shot back. 

Tonight was going to be extremely cold, but not just from the rain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooo drama!! this is one of the longer chapters i've written as well.  
> please leave kudos and comments!


	6. road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the holidays, and eight friends Sungyeon, Donghyuck, Eunbin, Chan, Renjun, Seungmin, Soyeon, and Jaemin decide it's a good idea to go camping (it's not).  
> Between secret crushes, playing matchmaker, fake relationships, and trips to the hospital, will friendship survive or will it break them apart?

When everyone had woken up, Chan instinctively reached out a hand beside him to shake Jiwoo awake, rubbing his face with his free hand. He touched the cold fabric of the sleeping bag, and all of yesterday’s fight came back to him in a rush. Chan groaned, it was too early in the morning for this. Jiwoo had at least left a note for them. 

“I left early in the morning because I couldn’t stand to see all your faces. I hope you have a shitty life. And Chan, don’t bother talking to me again. Eunbin and Sungyeon, I will find a way to ruin your reputations. You both just wait and see. As for everyone else, don’t cross me or you’ll find yourself on the same list as those two. **** you. **** you all.”

That was pleasant. The atmosphere was stony and nobody laughed at Chan’s poor attempt at a conversation.

“Look, I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to any of you advising me. Especially Eunbin and Sungyeon,” Chan said, gesturing towards them. Eunbin and Sungyeon nodded back. “I guess I was too invested in love. But I really shouldn’t have dismissed you guys like that. You’re my best friends, Jiwoo could never change that.”

“Well I guess she did.” Sungyeon mumbled, in a hurt voice. It was loud enough for Chan to hear, and he gave her an apologetic look, patting her shoulder and mumbling another ‘sorry’.

The silence that followed was too loud but words were even louder. When Joohyun and Taeyong finally arrived to pick everyone up, the tension was slightly released. The two older siblings engulfed everyone in hugs, ushered them into the van and stuffed the bags into the boot of the car. Sungyeon and Eunbin made sure to sit as far away as possible to each other, and due to unfortunate circumstances, Donghyuck and Renjun were almost next to each other with poor Seungmin stuck in between them. He immediately reached into his pockets for his earphones and scrolled through his playlist for an appropriate song. _Awkward Silence_ by _Stray Kids_ was pretty accurate. Donghyuck and Renjun glared daggers at each other while Sungyeon and Eunbin simply ignored each other. Soyeon couldn’t take it any more. It hurt her to see her friends fall apart like this, and it was tearing apart everyone’s friendships.

“Guys, will you ever grow up and just admit where you were wrong?” Soyeon burst out, scaring the life out of Taeyong and Joohyun. “Stop being so immature! You know it’s damaging our friendship! Seungmin, Chan, and I are stuck in the middle of this and it’ll be worse for Jaemin when he comes back!”

A tear ran down her cheek and Soyeon harshly rubbed her eyes, hiccupping as she tried to stifle her sobs. All of her bottled emotions had just been released in the form of a rant, directed to four very obvious people. Joohyun reached around awkwardly to pat Soyeon on the head and passed some napkins to the crying girl. 

The others looked around at each other sheepishly, avoiding certain people’s gazes. Then Sungyeon took in a sharp breath. 

“Soyeon, I appreciate that you’re trying to get us to apologise to each other, but it’s not going to work. You wouldn’t understand because you’re not in my situation. It’s not something someone can mend because someone else told them to apologise. So maybe you should mind your own business and stop being so emotional about it.” 

The last sentence came out harsher than Sungyeon had intended it to be, and she knew it because she saw Taeyong shooting an expression with a mix of disappointment and sadness in her direction through the mirror. Soyeon pressed the scrunched up napkins harder to her face, her face becoming redder and redder because of her crying and the rough napkins. Joohyun turned the radio volume slightly higher.

* * *

 “Alright kids, this time, wait until the vehicle stops moving before you get out. Buy some snacks, go to the bathroom, whatever. Be back in twenty minutes or we’re leaving without you.”

Some ran to get to the bathroom first, some ran to the service station to grab chips or lollies. Not coffee, because nobody particularly wanted to be very awake at this time. Eunbin originally ran ahead to the service station, but when she saw Sungyeon trailing behind, Eunbin slowed her steps down to match Sungyeon’s pace.

“Sungyeon?” Eunbin called gently. 

Sungyeon looked up, raising her eyebrows, but stopped where Eunbin was standing, scuffing her teal sneakers in the dirt. 

“Look, I know what I did wasn’t acceptable,” Eunbin began.

“Yeah, right.” Sungyeon interrupted, words full of spite and a hint of sadness.

“C’mon, at least let me finish what I was trying to say.”

Sungyeon motioned for her to continue. 

“What I was trying to say was that I shouldn’t have prioritised one friend over the other and it wasn’t what I was trying to do, but because of the stress and how unhappy Chan was, I just told him without thinking. When I saw you were so upset, I realised what I had done and I don’t want it to ruin our friendship. I’m sorry, Sungyeon. Please forgive me?”

The corners of Sungyeon’s mouth twitched up a bit and her eyesight became slightly blurry, tears threatening to spill out. She moved closer to hug her friend, and although Eunbin hesitated slightly, she hugged Sungyeon back in the middle of the dirt road on the side of a service station. Eunbin squeaked in fear when a lizard made its way dangerously close to the two. Eunbin pouted when she saw that Sungyeon was trying to hold back laughter, but she threw an arm around the shorter and they walked to the air conditioned paradise that was the van.

The tension in the vehicle had been loosened slightly, but two particular people still refused to cooperate. Eunbin and Sungyeon sat next to each other, playing an endless game of ‘cat’s cradle’. Renjun reached over to open the door when they arrived at the hospital building that towered over them. Taeyong motioned for him to stop.

“There’s too many people. If you all come, then it might be a bit uncomfortable for Jaemin. Joohyun and I will get him, you just stay here.”

Renjun huffed, but he flopped back against the seat and fiddled with a bright blue neck pillow. At last, Jaemin appeared from the glass sliding doors of the hospital, leaning on Joohyun with a white bandage wrapped around his foot. Ignoring Taeyong’s words, the friends leaped out of the car including Donghyuck who trailed behind slightly. They patted Jaemin on the back and hugged him as gently as possible, being careful not to unbalance him. They made their way back to the car and Jaemin rested against the window, his injured foot resting on Renjun’s lap. Now that the seating arrangements had been changed, Seungmin no longer felt that burden on his shoulders.

Renjun knew Donghyuck would hate to see him so happy, with the company of Jaemin. Renjun couldn't understand himself, why he was being so cold towards Donghyuck. He didn’t want to, and it was honestly so hard to ignore his best friend. But that voice inside his head nagged him not to give in. Renjun looked across to Donghyuck, but the latter turned away and stared out the window. Jaemin observed with sharp eyes, and saw that Renjun was biting his nails again. It was his habit when he was stressed. Jaemin reached over and carefully brought Renjun’s hand down from his face with a gentle smile. Renjun was too stuck in thought to notice Jaemin’s actions. He shouldn’t have been so mean to Donghyuck about spending time with Yerim. He was just… jealous that his best friend had seemingly found another best friend.

Donghyuck felt that everyone was overreacting. It was true that he shouldn’t have yelled at Renjun that day. Renjun must have felt so guilty, thinking that it was his fault that Jaemin was injured. But Renjun shouldn’t have reacted like that about spending time with Yerim. Donghyuck didn’t want to lost. Lost to what, he wasn’t sure. It was probably just his pride getting out of control. Their quarrel was tearing their strong bond of friendship apart. If Chan hadn’t ‘dated’ Jiwoo, then Eunbin wouldn’t have told him about Jiwoo’s phone call. Then Sungyeon wouldn’t have fought with her and then Jaemin and Renjun wouldn’t have been alone next to the fire. And then Jaemin wouldn’t have been injured and they wouldn’t be fighting right now. But all that wouldn’t have occurred if they hadn’t gone on holidays. And that wouldn’t have happened if they weren’t hanging out together, which wouldn’t have happened if they weren’t all friends, and that wouldn’t have happened if Renjun and Donghyuck hadn’t crashed into each other in the hallway seven years ago.

“What are you looking at?” Soyeon craned her neck, trying to follow Donghyuck’s line of sight.

“Nothing.” Donghyuck replied to Soyeon, still staring out of the window.

“You’re crushing the chips.” Soyeon pointed out, whispering to make sure Seungmin wouldn’t wake up, who was resting on Soyeon’s shoulder.

Donghyuck looked down to see that his knuckles had turned white from holding the bag. His grip had unconsciously tightened as he went further and further down his train of thought.

“Sorry,” Donghyuck apologised sheepishly. “Did you want some?”

He passed the chip bag over to Soyeon, who scooped up the crushed chips with her hands and ate it, wiping her hands on her jeans afterwards. Donghyuck made a face and tossed a napkin at her.

“Can you pass me a napkin too?” Renjun asked Soyeon, his voice cracking slightly after not speaking for so long.

Donghyuck offered him the pile of brown napkins. Renjun turned away and slumped back against his seat. Soyeon raised an eyebrow, and whispered to Seungmin who had woken up after Renjun spoke. Donghyuck scoffed, muttering an insult under his breath before resuming his glaring out of the window. If looks could kill, all the plants outside would be withered and dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is almost the last chapter, if you have anything you would like to see in the final chapters, let me know!  
> please leave kudos and comments, it is very appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave constructive feedback and maybe some things you would like to see in future chapters!


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